While still in Cleveland, Natalie tried to start bridging the gap between art and cake. But job opportunities were few for the recent graduate.

You hear of people moving to Austin for every reason under the sun, but “I came for cakes” was a first-time response for me. “I moved on hearsay of how good Austin is for business and art, creativity,” Natalie said. Sure enough, Natalie found a job opportunity here in Austin, working for a local bakery for almost two years.

Natalie Sideserf’s Willie Nelson cake

Continuing to hone her skills, Natalie decided to enter Capital Confectioners’ Sugar Art Show & Cake Competition. She wanted to sculpt her cake in the form of a lifesize older male’s head, so her mom suggested Willie Nelson.

That’s when things got a little wild. After approximately thirty hours of work, Natalie took a picture of her completed cake and sent it to her family. When her brother posted the photo on Reddit, the post went to the top of the charts, ranking #1 globally. Her success at the actual competition was the icing on the cake (pun intended). Natalie won Best of Division at the Intermediate level, as well as multiple other awards.